Spectrum sharing is thought of as one of the most viable ways of improving the amount of spectrum available to wireless networks and other radio devices for conducting wireless communications. An exemplary spectrum sharing technique involves use of television white spaces under regulations set forth by an appropriate regulatory agency. An exemplary regulatory agency that regulates the use of wireless spectrum is the U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC). Other countries may have similar regulatory entities.
In the U.S., for example, the FCC has eliminated analog television (TV) broadcasts in favor of digital TV broadcasts. This has freed spectrum channels for use by unlicensed radio systems to offer various services, such as mobile communications and Internet access. In this context, the freed spectrum is commonly referred to as TV white space (or TVWS) but other types of white spaces are possible. In the case of TV white space, the white space is comprised of unused spectrum that is interleaved with spectrum used by incumbent radio devices in the channel 2 to channel 51 range (corresponding to 54 MHz to 698 MHz). Exemplary incumbent radio devices for TV white space include television broadcasters and other priority users of television channels. Under FCC regulations, for example, radio devices that use TVWS must register with a central database server (also referred to as a spectrum management server) and receive a channel list (also referred to as a channel map) of available channels for which the radio device may use in a shared environment with other TV band devices (TVBDs). The channel list that is generated for a radio device is generated by the central database server based on the location of the radio device. In this manner, the operation of incumbent radio devices having protected areas in which the radio device is located may be taken into account when determining channel availability.
Also, regulators and industry groups have proposed use of geo-location database technology to control or manage spectrum access for radios in other situations. For example, use of geo-location database technology has been proposed for the 3.550 GHz to 3.650 GHz bands and the 5 GHz UNII bands in the U.S. Outside the U.S., use of geo-location database technology has been proposed for TVWS bands in a number of countries.
A concern expressed by the operators of incumbent radio devices is how the incumbent spectrum use will be protected from the potential effects of interference by TVBDs. The solution of choice is a geo-location database (e.g., the above-noted central database server) that is capable of managing the allocation of spectrum in accordance with policies defined in terms of geography, time, frequency and other application parameters, such as transmit power and emissions characteristics. But this methodology is predicated on a radio device being able to accurately report its location and characteristics (such as antenna height, gain, and emissions characteristics). If a device inadvertently or maliciously reports inaccurate location data, the device may gain access to spectrum for which it would not otherwise have been permitted to use. This results in a high likelihood of interference.